‘Women become more racist when they’re ovulating’

“In this case, skin color serves as a convenient marker of group identity.

“(The authors concede that people of different skin colors came into contact with one another only in recent times, evolutionarily speaking, but propose that any physical trait that serves to demarcate an out-group member would be processed by ovulating females as a sort of ‘hazard heuristic.’)

“Stereotypes about the particular out-group being prone to violence may also play a role, so, at least in American society, cultural transmission works alongside evolutionary biology in promoting racism.”